Food Chemistry: Controlling Blood Sugar Levels

Dr. Schwartz brought up a wide array of benefits that can be found in our daily food consumption in his book The Genie in the Bottle, which I found to be very interesting and entertaining. His style of writing was directed toward the general public, and he did that by eliminating unnecessary jargon and explaining in further detail certain concepts that may be unfamiliar with the average reader. One topic Schwartz discussed very briefly was the ability of flaxseed to control blood sugar levels, which I found quite remarkable. However, Schwartz did not go into much detail on how the flaxseed did this, unlike with his explanation of the potassium deficiency due to high intake of licorice. Therefore, this prompted me to do a little extra research on my own. Since my grandfather was recently diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus I saw this as a wonderful opportunity for me to pass on some information to him in order to help control his blood sugar, but with only one line in the chapter of a book I could not in good conscious expect him to incorporate flaxseed into his diet. Therefore, I searched for some current data that shows what flaxseed is capable of regarding blood sugar levels, and this is what I found.

There is quite a bit of on going research concerning the mechanism for how flaxseed regulates blood glucose, but I was unable to find a credible source that had published its findings. However, I did discover that most researchers and medical physicians link this effect to the high concentrations of "healthy" fats (omega 3) and fiber in the seed. Most physicians who recommend the use of flaxseed only recommend it in its supplemental dietary form, and strongly discourage its over use. This because in certain patients, for example those with type II diabetes mellitus, there is a large amount of insulin in the blood, which deactivates a crucial enzyme, delta six desaturase. This enzyme is responsible for converting the alpha linolenic acid in flaxseed to longer fat chains. Without the active form of this enzyme the body can accumulate deleterious amounts of the acid and cause counter productive effects.

I passed all of this information on to my grandfather with the disclaimer, as with most dietary concerns it is best to discuss changes with your physician. I look forward to learning more about how flaxseed is thought to help control blood glucose levels, and perhaps hearing from some of you on the matter.